Creative Edinburgh and Creative Informatics Data Project

As one of the strategic partners in Creative Informatics, Creative Edinburgh embarked on a timely and innovative Data Project which aimed to help us become a truly data driven organisation and allow us to share the best practice in data collection methodologies with other organisations in the Scottish creative industries sector. 

You can read the final report of the Data Project here.

We needed ethically sourced data to deliver our charity’s mission: to provide the support and services our members need, to advocate for our community and to provide transparency and accountability for the work we are doing. 

Our project team, led by Edinburgh Napier University, worked to analyse and understand the potential for data already captured, and to develop a detailed data collection plan. We then shared this with the wider Scottish creative industries as part of a consultation with workshops, engagement activities and wider sharing. 

The objective for this work was to create a blueprint that could be shared as a useful model of best practice and practical approaches for others in the creative industries whether representative bodies, freelancers, or small businesses. This included recommendations on data use, collection, data circularity, and to particularly focus on areas of ethics, diversity and inclusion, as well as guidance on approaches to data in the context of AI and Machine Learning in the creative industries.

The aim of this work was to benefit a wide range of creative industries organisations, as well as informing funders and policy makers. We also wanted to share the work back to the community it represents, and have organised a Creative Edinburgh Membership Data presentation for key stakeholders and community members at a dedicated event in 2024.

We are grateful to Creative Informatics for supporting this project with funding as well as expert guidance from colleagues at Edinburgh Napier University and the University of Edinburgh.

For any questions about the project please contact Professor Frauke Zeller at fzeller@ed.ac.uk or Creative Edinburgh team at info@creative-edinburgh.com